methods in context

• participant observation is when the sociologist actively joins in with their research
• non-participant observation is when the researcher doesnt actively join in with their research
• covert observation is when the researcher doesnt reveal that they are doing research on an individual or group
• overt observation is when participants are aware then are being observed
• field experiment is when the research takes place in the participants natural enviroment
• laboratory experiments take place in a controlled or artificial environment so are rarely used in sociology
• group interviews are research interviews with a a couple of people
• unstructured interviews is when there is no specific questions and order that needs to be followed
• structured interviews is when there are set questions that the interviewer must follow
• surveys/questionnaires are when a researcher asks questions to their participants with online or on paper to gather a large amount of data on a large sample size
• official statistics are collected by the goverment and it agencies e.g. department of education, health services and the CJS
• Primary data is when the data is collected first hand by the researcher themselves
• secondary data is when researchers used other researchers data to form their own data
• qualitative are rich in detail and get to the root of the problem
• quantitative data uses numerical data to create patterns and trends
• documents are personal, public or historical